Rapid connector

ABSTRACT

A rapid connector is utilized to effect electrical connections between individual wire ends from a multi-conductor cable to terminal pins on a terminal block such as might be located in a central telephone office. The connector comprises an insulative body having a plurality of wire receiving pins on one side to which the wire ends of the multi-conductor cable are connected at the factory or during the manufacture of the body. The other side of the body includes a plurality of terminal pin receiving openings. The cable pins extend into the body and terminate in spring fingers adjacent to the terminal pin receiving openings and cam means are provided for camming the spring fingers simultaneously into electrical contact with the terminal pins after the terminal pins have been received in the terminal pin receiving openings. Those openings are free of obstructions when the cam means are in unlocked position so that a large number of pins from the board can simultaneously be received in the pin openings with a minimum of friction.

United States Patent 1191 Iversen [4 1 July 31, 1973 [75] Inventor:

RAPID CONNECTOR Ralph T. Iversen, Granada Hills, Calif.

[73] Assignee: General Telephone Company of California, Santa Monica,Calif.

Primary Examiner-Joseph l-l. McGlynn Attorney-Pastoriza & Kelly [57]ABSTRACT A rapid connector is utilized to effect electrical connectionsbetween individual wire ends from a multiconductor cable to terminalpins on a terminal block such as might be located in a central telephoneoffice. The connector comprises an insulative body having a plurality ofwire receiving pins on one side to which the wire ends of themulti-conductor cable are connected at the factory or during themanufacture of the body. The other side of the body includes a pluralityof terminal pin receiving openings. The cable pins extend into the bodyand terminate in spring fingers adjacent to the terminal pin receivingopenings and cam means are provided for camming the spring fingerssimultaneously into electrical contact with the terminal pins after theterminal pins have been received in the terminal pin receiving openings.Those openings are free of obstructions when the cam means are inunlocked position so that a large number of pins from the board cansimultaneously be received in the pin openings with a minimum offriction.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENIE JUl 3 I ma F '|6.4. FIG.5.

RAPID CONNECTOR This invention relates to a rapid connector and moreparticularly to a connector for connecting individual wire ends from amulti-conductor cable to terminal block pins in a central telephoneswitching office.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In running cable and connecting individualconductors carried by the cable to terminal block pins such as in atelephone switching office, the practice heretofore has been to windeach-wire end of the cable after stripping the insulation about anindividual pin on a terminal block. This operation at the site of thecentral telephone office is extremely time consuming and very costly tothe telephone company in that a large labor pool of electricians must bekept on hand for extended periods of time. More particularly, since theconnection of the individual cable wires to the pins themselves involvesseveral hours, other work is often delayed pending completion ofconnection of one multiconductor cable to a terminal block.

In many instances, there are upwards of two hundred individual terminalpins to which the ends of a multiconductor cable must be connected. Inthose instances where the number of pins is considerably smaller, it isfeasible to employ a plug which may be pre-connected to the end of thethe cable and provided with a series of openings which will receive thepins simultaneously to make the connection. However, where a very largenumber of pins are involved, any such types of plugs heretofore proposedhave been impractical largely because of the tremendous amount offriction involved in attempting to insert simultaneously a large numberof pins in openings in the plug. Moreover, problems are involved inassuring a foolproof connection for each individual wire to a pin. Whena plug body of conventional type is utilized, any slight variatiions inthe fixed spacings between the openings for receiving the terminal pinsor any variations within the tolerances of the positioning of theterminal pins themselves might result in an impairment of the integrityof some of the pin connections to contacts within the body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION With the foregoing in mind,the present invention contemplates a novel plug body construction toprovide a rapid connector which will enable a very large number ofindividual wire ends to be simultaneously connected to terminal blockpins and yet in which friction problems heretofore encountered withmulti-pin plugs and possible failure of certain of the connections arewholly avoided. Moreover, the provision of the rapid connector of thepresent invention enables the cable wire ends to be wired to the rapidconnector or plug body itself at the factory so that when cable isconnected at a telephone central office site, it is only necessary forthe worker to connect a plug to the terminal block rather than take thelong time involved in effecting individual wire connections. As aconsequence, the large labor pool and time involved in running andconnecting cable in telephone switching offices can be drasticallyreduced with a consequent savings to the telephone company.

More particularly, the rapid connector itself comprises an insulativebody having a plurality of wire receiving cable pins on one sidepre-connected to the wire ends of a multi-conductor cable, and terminalpin receiving openings on the other side, the cable pins extending intothe body and terminating in spring fingers adjacent to the terminal pinreceiving openings. respectively. The body includes a cam means forcamming the spring fingers simultaneously into electrical contact withthe terminal pins after theterminal pins have been received in theterminal pin receiving openings. Thus at the time of insertion of thepins in the openings, the openings themselves offer no obstructions toreceiving the pins. However, after the pins have been received,operation of the cam means effects the desired electrical connection. Asa result, friction is minimized during the insertion of the pins in theplug. Not only is a rapid and efficient connection assured, but theconstruction of the unique camming means in co-operation with the springfingers assures that each and every individual connection will providean electrical contact which is not subject to failure or opening eventhough there may be slight variations in the actual physical spacing ofthe terminal block pins and openings in the rapid connector body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A better understanding of theinvention will be had by now referring to the accompany drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view ofa rapid connector in accordwith the present invention preparatory to being connected to a largenumber of pins on a terminal block such as might be encountered in acentral telephone switching office;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of one of the cam means utilized inthe rapid connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the cam means taken in DETAILED DESCRIPTIONOF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown atypical terminal block 10 which might be secured in a bay in a centraltelephone switching office. As shown, this terminal block includes aplurality of exposed terminal pins 11.

Shown above the terminal block 10 is a multiconductor cable 12 fromwhich exposed individual wire ends 13 may be provided. Prior to thepresent invention, the exposed Wire ends 13 were stripped of insulationand would be individually wrapped about the terminal pins 11 of theterminal block 10 to connect the cable to the block. For this purpose,the side structure of the terminal block includes slots 14 for receivingbundles of wire for connection to the various pins. Since each terminalblock may include up to 200 or even more individual terminal block pins,the stripping of individual terminal wires from the multi-conductorcable and the wrapping of these wires about the terminal ends is a verytime consuming operation particularly when performed at the site of thecentral switching office.

In accord with the present invention, rather than wire the individualwire ends to the terminal block pins, directly, there is provided arapid connector in the form of an insulative body having a plurality ofwire receiving cable pins 16 on one side which, in the embodimentdisclosed, constitutes the top side of the body 15. These pins 16 arearranged to be connected directly to the individual wire ends in themulti-conductor cable 12 at a manufacturing site or factory prior torunning the cable in a central telephone office. Thus, the facilities atthe factory or manufacturing site include automatic winding machinerywhich can rapidly effect the various individual wire connections to thecable pins 16 of the body 15. By pre-cutting cable to proper lengths inaccord with the specifications of a remote central telephone office,mass production techniques can be utilized at the manufacturing plant toeffect this wiring of the individual wire ends to the body 15. Theproper length of cable already connected to the rapid connector body canthen be moved to the central office for effecting desired connections toterminal pins on the block 10. The wrap around connections between thecable ends and the cable pins 16 are indicated at 17 in FIG. 1.

Still referring to the-plug body 15, it will be noted that another sideincludes terminal pin receiving openings which, in the embodimentillustrated, are on the bottom side of the body. These pin openings arespaced .to receive the terminal pins 11 when the plug body 15is'connected to the terminal block.

As will become clearer as the description proceeds, the cable pins 16extend into the plug body 15 and terminate in spring fingers adjacent tothe terminal pin receiving openings 18. A cam means in the body member,an end of one of which is shown at 19 is operable to cam the springfingers into electrical engagement with the terminal pins 11 after thesame have been re ceived in the openings 18.

The body 15 itself may include parallel shoulders 20, 21 adjacent to itscable pins so that another identical plug body can be connected to thecable pins 16 in a piggyback" arrangement if desired. Thus in instanceswhere two multi-conductor cables include individual wires to beconnected to the same terminal pins on a terminal block, suchconnections can readily be effected by simply adding a further plug tothe additional cable and mounting the same on top of the plug body 15.

Referring now to FIG. 2, one of the cam means having the exposed end 19described in FIG. 1 is shown in side elevational view. This structurecomprises an elongated insulated member 22 adapted to run through thelength of the body in a direction normal to the direction of the cablepins 16 in FIG. 1. The other end of the cam means is designated 23 andis exposed at the other end of the body 15 of FIG. 1. Each of the ends19 and 23 includes screwdriver slots as will be evident from FIG. 1 sothat the cam means may be rotated within the body 15.

Referring to FIG. 3, it will be noted that the crosssection of theelongated insulated member portion of the cam means is elongated in onedirection. The member itself runs between adjacent pairs of rows of thespring fingers associated with the cable pins 16 such that rotation ofthe cam means about its own axis through 90 rotates the long dimensionof the crosssection from a position parallel to the cable pins 16 to aposition transverse to the cable pins.

The foregoing operation will be better understood by now referring toFIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG. 4, it will be evident that the interior of thebody 15 is provided with enlarged cavities 24 and 2S communicating withthe terminal pin receiving openings 18. The cable pins 16 terminatewithin these cavities in spring fingers 26 and 27. The position of thecam means 22 is such that it passes through the body between thecavities 24 and 25 and thus between the spring fingers 26 and 27. Thus,the cable pins 16 associated with the spring fingers 26 and 27 may beconsidered a pair of rows of pins, the cam means passing between thepairs such that a single elongated cam means will be provided for eachpair of rows as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, a single earn meansfunctions to connect the pins in two rows to the correspondingterminals, there being one half as many cam means as rows of pins.

Referring particularly to the spring fingers, it will be noted that thefingers bow inwardly towards the cam member as at 28 and 29 thenceextend outwardly over the major portion of their lengths and finallyturning inwardly adjacent their tips to define rounded contact surfacesas indicated at 30 and 31;

In FIG. 4, the position of the cam means 22 is shown in its unlockedstate wherein the long dimension is vertical and generally parallel tothe direction of the cable pins 16. In this position, the biasing of thespring fingers is such that they snugly engage the cam'means; that is,they are biased inwardly to leave the. major areas of the cavities 24and 25 free of any obstructions. Thus, there is no impediment toreception of the terminal pins within the openings 18, these openingshaving their entrances beveled as at 34. The positioning of these pinswhen completely inserted is indicated by the dotted lines. l

Referring now to FIG. 5, the cam means 22 is shown rotated wherein itwill be evident that the long dimension of the elongated cross-sectionconfiguration has resulted in a camming apart of the spring fingers 26and 27 so that their contact surfaces 30 and 31 press firmly against theterminal pins 11 from the terminal block 10.

Actually, it is desirable that the cam means be rotated slightly greaterthan 90 so that an overcentering action results as a consequence of thereverse bias pressure of the spring fingers against the ends of the cammeans. Suitable stops to limit the rotation of the cam means areindicated at 32 and 33. I

The movement of the spring fingers upon operation of the cam means issuch that a slight wiping action as well as a normal pressure occursagainst the terminal pins by contact surfaces 30 and 31. This wipingaction as well as a sufficient contact or pressure force normal to thepins is necessary to assure a proper electrical connection. Since thespring fingers themselves are relatively long in a vertical directionand are moved transversely, there is substantial latitude to assure thata proper connection is made even though the terminal pins 11 may not beuniformly spaced on the terminal,

block.

OPERATION In operation, and as mentioned heretofore, the rapid connectorbody 15 is pre-wired to the individual ends of conductors in themulti-conductor cable 12 prior to the cable and plug being shipped toany remote central office wherein connections to terminal blocks are tobe made.

Thus, in running and connecting cable in a central office it is onlynecessary for the workers to plug the plug bodies into the terminalblock 10, there being provided as many plug bodies as necessary for theconnections involved. In this respect, any one terminal block in thecentral office would ordinarily not require more than two plugs or rapidconnectors such as 15 placed in end to end relationship to effectdesired connections to all of the terminals. A typical plug body makingup the rapid connector will accomodate 200 terminal block pinssimultaneously.

The various cam means in the rapid connector bodies are positioned intheir unlocked positions; that is, with the long dimension of thecross-section in a vertical direction or parallel to the cable pins 16as depicted in FIG. 4. The screwdriver slot may be aligned with the longdimension of this cross-section so that in the unlocked position of thecam means, the slots will always be vertical as shown in FIG. 1. Thebody 15 can readily be positioned over the terminal board to receive theterminal pins 11. Since the various openings and internal cavities arefree of obstructions, there is very little friction involved whenpositioning the body 15 on the terminal board as described inconjunction with FIG. 4 notwithstanding the pins enter 200 openingssimultaneously. The entrance beveling 34 of the openings assuresreception of the pins even though some may be slightly misaligned. Afterthe body has been seated on the terminal board, the operator will simplyrotate the various cam means 90 or slightly greater than 90 to providean overcentering action so that the spring fingers within the body areconnected simultaneously to the terminal pins as shown and described inconjunction with FIG. 5.

Since the ends of each of the cam means are exposed at each end of therapid connector body 15, should two bodies be arranged in tandem, it isstill possible to operate the cam means ofeither body from the far ends.

As mentioned, further plugs can be piggybacked on top of the plug bodiesdescribed if dual connections are to be made to various terminal pins.

In the event any rewiring has to be done, it is a simple matter toremove the various connections to the terminals by simply rotating thecam means back into their vertical unlocked positions and then liftingthe plug from the terminal block. Since no electrical contacts areeffected during insertion or removal, not only is friction decreasedwhile inserting or removing but in the event the plug is used inapplications other than telephone work wherein high voltages may beinvolved, any arc and the like is avoided.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that the present invention hasprovided an improved rapid connector wherein problems associated withrunning and connecting cables heretofore encountered have been overcome.

What is claimed is:

l. A rapid connector for effecting electrical connection betweenindividual wire ends from a multiconductor cable to terminal pins on aterminal block, comprising, in combination:

a. an insulative body having a plurality of wire receiving cable pins onone side for connection to the wire ends of said multiconductor cableand terminal pin receiving openings on its other side, said cable pinsextending into said body and terminating in spring fingers adjacent tosaid terminal pin receiving openings;

b. cam means in said body for camming said spring fingers simultaneouslyinto electrical contact with said terminal pins after said tenninal pinshave been received in said terminal pin receiving openings whereby aplurality of electrical connections between conductors in saidmulti-conductor cable and said terminal pins can be made rapidly andsimultaneously by said rapid connector; and in which c. said one sideincludes parallel shoulders running adjacent to said wire receivingcable pins defining a seat for accommodating an additional rapidconnector in piggyback fashion, said cable pins being received in thepin receiving openings on the other side of said additional rapidconnector.

2. A connector according to claim 1, in which said insulative bodyincludes enlarged internal cavities communicating with said pinreceiving openings, said cam means extending between said cavities andsaid spring fingers terminating respectfully in said cavities and beingbiased against said cam means to one side of said cavities so that saidcavities are cleared of any obstructions when receiving said terminalpins whereby friction when said terminal pins are received in saidopenings is minimized, operation of said cam means urging said springfingers laterally towards the opposite sides of the cavities to therebyelectrically engage said terminal pins and sandwich them between thespring fingers and opposite sides of the cavities.

3. A connector according to claim 2, in which said insulative bodyincludes 200 pin receiving openings, each of said openings havingbeveled entrance portions to facilitate initial insertion of the pinstherein.

4. A connector according to claim 2, in which said cam means comprisesan elongated insulated member running through said body in a directionnormal to the direction of the cable pins to pass between adjacent pairsof rows of spring fingers in said cavities, the crosssection of saidmember being elongated such that rotation of said member about its ownaxis through rotates the long dimension of said cross-section from aposition parallel to the cable pins to a position transverse to thecable pins whereby the ends of the long dimension of cross-section camthe spring fingers against said terminal pins.

5. A connector according to claim 4, in which each of said springfingers bows inwardly towards said cam member, thence extends outwardlyover a major portion of its length then turns inwardly at its tip todefine a rounded contact surface facing outwardly to engage a terminalpin, the movement of the spring finger upon operation of said cam meansproviding a wiping action as well as a normal pressure against theterminal pin by said contact surface.

6. A connector according to claim 5, in 'which said cam member isrotatable slightly more than 90 so that an over-centering action takesplace, the resiliency of said spring fingers holding the cam member inits locked position.

7. A connector according to claim 5, in which said body includes aplurality of rows of cable pins, there being provided cam means betweenpairs of adjacent rows, the ends of said cam means being exposed at theends of said body and including screw driver slot means for enablingrotation of the cam means from either end of said body.

i i i t i

1. A rapid connector for effecting electrical connection betweenindividual wire ends from a multi-conductor cable to terminal pins on aterminal block, comprising, in combination: a. an insulative body havinga plurality of wire receiving cable pins on one side for connection tothe wire ends of said multiconductor cable and terminal pin receivingopenings on its other side, said cable pins extending into said body andterminating in spring fingers adjacent to said terminal pin receivingopenings; b. cam means in said body for camming said spring fingerssimultaneously into electrical contact with said terminal pins aftersaid terminal pins have been received in said terminal pin receivingopenings whereby a plurality of electrical connections betweenconductors in said multi-conductor cable and said terminal pins can bemade rapidly and simultaneously by said rapid connector; and in which c.said one side includes parallel shoulders running adjacent to said wirereceiving cable pins defining a seat for accommodating an additionalrapid connector in piggyback fashion, said cable pins being received inthe pin receiving openings on the other side of said additional rapidconnector.
 2. A connector according to claim 1, in which said insulativebody includes enlarged internal cavities communicating with said pinreceiving openings, said cam means extending between said cavities andsaid spring fingers terminating respectfully in said cavities and beingbiased against said cam means to one side of said cavities so that saidcavities are cleared of any obstructions when receiving said terminalpins whereby friction when said terminal pins are received in saidopenings is minimized, operation of said cam means urging said springfingers laterally towards the opposite sides of the cavities to therebyelectrically engage said terminal pins and sandwich them between thespring finGers and opposite sides of the cavities.
 3. A connectoraccording to claim 2, in which said insulative body includes 200 pinreceiving openings, each of said openings having beveled entranceportions to facilitate initial insertion of the pins therein.
 4. Aconnector according to claim 2, in which said cam means comprises anelongated insulated member running through said body in a directionnormal to the direction of the cable pins to pass between adjacent pairsof rows of spring fingers in said cavities, the cross-section of saidmember being elongated such that rotation of said member about its ownaxis through 90* rotates the long dimension of said cross-section from aposition parallel to the cable pins to a position transverse to thecable pins whereby the ends of the long dimension of cross-section camthe spring fingers against said terminal pins.
 5. A connector accordingto claim 4, in which each of said spring fingers bows inwardly towardssaid cam member, thence extends outwardly over a major portion of itslength then turns inwardly at its tip to define a rounded contactsurface facing outwardly to engage a terminal pin, the movement of thespring finger upon operation of said cam means providing a wiping actionas well as a normal pressure against the terminal pin by said contactsurface.
 6. A connector according to claim 5, in which said cam memberis rotatable slightly more than 90* so that an over-centering actiontakes place, the resiliency of said spring fingers holding the cammember in its locked position.
 7. A connector according to claim 5, inwhich said body includes a plurality of rows of cable pins, there beingprovided cam means between pairs of adjacent rows, the ends of said cammeans being exposed at the ends of said body and including screw driverslot means for enabling rotation of the cam means from either end ofsaid body.